The SSSSSSSS-level Mad Dragon is released from prison!

The sound faded.

The sky is falling.

It's not a description.

It was the dome of the Soul-Suppressing Tower, the roof made of ten-thousand-year-old black iron, that was collapsing inch by inch.

Crimson lightning, carrying the divine might to judge all living beings, struck down from the highest point of Tianji Island.

"Chen'er, run!"

Qin Shengxue used all her strength to grab Jiang Chen's wrist, her nails digging into his flesh.

"This is a trap! The Lord of Heavenly Mystery Island has already emerged from seclusion! He's waiting for you!"

"Let's go!"

Jiang Chen grasped his master's cold hand in return.

He transferred a gentle stream of chaotic true energy to her, stabilizing her heart meridian.

"Master, after I've settled you all in, I'll go and tear down that damn temple."

Jiang Chen stood up.

He ignored the boulder falling from above.

He simply raised his hand and made a light gesture towards the location of the three people.

A semi-transparent shield constructed from chaotic true energy enveloped the three of them.

All the falling boulders were silently broken down into primordial dust when they came within three feet of the shield.

"wait for me."

Jiang Chen uttered two words.

He leaped into the air, charging upwards against the collapsing sky.

The entire Heavenly Mystery Hall collapsed the moment he rushed out.

He landed on the ruins of the main hall and looked up at the white jade steps leading to the mountain peak.

Lingxiao Temple.

That was the final destination of his trip.

Jiang Chen stepped onto the first step.

A heavy, overwhelming spatial pressure, powerful enough to crush mountains, crashed down upon them.

His body didn't even sway.

The second step.

The pressure doubled.

Level 3.

ten times.

hundred times!

Jiang Chen's steps did not falter for a moment.

Barefoot, he trudged through the tangible mud formed by the oppressive force, step by step, toward the mountain peak.

At the end of the white jade steps, in front of the Lingxiao Holy Temple.

Twelve imposing figures clad in golden armor and wielding divine weapons were already waiting there.

The aura emanating from each of them had reached the peak of the late-stage Nascent Soul realm.

He is the last guardian of Tianji Island, one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals.

"Halt!"

The leading general raised his halberd, his voice booming like a bell.

"This is forbidden territory of the Holy Temple. Retreat, or die!"

The twelve people simultaneously activated their true energy.

Twelve beams of spiritual energy of different colors shot into the sky, intertwining above their heads to form a sky-covering array.

"The Twelve Heavenly Capitals Formation!"

"Trespassers will be annihilated, soul and all!"

Jiang Chen climbed the last step.

He stopped and looked up at the large array that was swirling with terrifying energy.

He didn't even look at the twelve divine generals.

His gaze pierced through the array and through the heavy bronze doors of the temple.

It landed in the deepest part of the main hall, upon that familiar yet strange aura of imprisonment.

Jiang Chen raised his arm.

Dark golden dragon scales pierced his skin, starting from his fingertips and spreading rapidly, covering his entire right arm.

Muscles were knotted and veins were bulging.

"What is he doing?"

"He wants to use his physical body to withstand the divine formation?"

"court death!"

Jiang Chen did not answer.

He provided the answer through his actions.

He crouched slightly, his right arm pulled back like a fully drawn bow.

next second.

He transformed into a streak of dark golden light and, without hesitation, crashed into the array light barrier that was said to be able to suppress true immortals.

"boom--!"

A loud bang.

In that instant, a gap was torn open in the protective array of Tianji Island.

The twelve Heavenly Gods all coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The expression on their faces changed from a sneer to horror.

They watched helplessly as the figure, like a red-hot meteorite, smashed through their proud array in the most primitive and savage way.

The force of the recoil flowed back into their bodies along the formation.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

The twelve people flew backwards like kites with broken strings.

His body smashed through more than a dozen white jade pillars surrounding the temple and crashed heavily into the ruins.

Jiang Chen landed in front of the temple gate.

His right arm, covered in dragon scales, was completely unharmed.

He withdrew his gaze and kicked open the massive bronze door, which was ten feet tall.

"Boom!"

The door opened.

The sight behind the door made Jiang Chen's pupils shrink to the tip of a pin.

In the center of the temple.

It wasn't a magnificent palace.

Instead, it was a massive altar made up of countless corpses.

Above the altar, a white-haired woman was pinned to the void by nine pillars of light that pierced through the heavens and earth.

Her limbs, her chest, her brow.

Each beam of light was frantically drawing away the most primal life essence from her body.

The essence flowed along the beam of light and into the constantly flashing, scarlet "divine blood mark" between her brows.

Under the brand, the woman's body was almost transparent.

Luo Qingluan.

Jiang Chen's mother.

She seemed to sense something and struggled to open her eyes.

Her gaze traveled across twenty years and landed on the young man standing at the door.

Her lips moved.

"Chen... Chen'er..."

"Run...run away..."

"This is a trap..."

Jiang Chen's chest heaved violently.

He did not run away.

He walked step by step up to the altar made of bones.

"daughter."

He only managed to utter one word, his voice hoarse.

He reached out, wanting to touch that pale face.

"Don't touch it!"

Luo Qingluan let out a weak roar.

"That mark... is the key the island lord used to steal the essence of this star!"

"It will drain you dry!"

Jiang Chen's hand froze in mid-air.

He looked at the evil brand between his mother's eyebrows, and at the unyielding despair and pleading in her eyes.

Jiang-Chen's right eye, that pool of pitch-black ice, suddenly began to spin.

An aura of deathly stillness, as if freezing everything, erupted from his eyes.

The air in the entire temple froze instantly.

The surging power of the array and the nine life-draining pillars of light were all frozen at this moment.

Jiang Chen leaped onto the altar.

Without further hesitation, he gripped the scarlet "divine blood mark" with one hand.

"Sizzle—!"

A terrifying power, far exceeding the Nascent Soul stage and belonging to the Void Refinement stage, suddenly erupted from the mark.

Jiang Chen's hand was instantly torn open, revealing the stark white bone beneath.

Golden dragon blood trickled down between his fingers.

But he did not let go.

His five fingers, like five red-hot iron pincers, gripped the brand tightly, tightening inch by inch.

"roar!"

Jiang Chen raised his head and let out a suppressed dragon roar.

The platinum elixir within his body underwent a frenzied reversal.

The chaotic true fire, which had fused with the essence of nine prodigies, flowed upwards along his arm.

It was forcefully poured into that divine blood brand.

"No--!"

A furious roar, belonging neither to Luo Qingluan nor to Jiang Chen, came from the depths of the void.

But it was too late.

"Snap!"

The scarlet brand was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

next second.

It exploded with a deafening roar.

The nine pillars of light that had pinned Luo Qingluan down vanished instantly.

Her body, like a withered leaf, fell helplessly from mid-air.

Jiang Chen pulled her into his arms.

The moment the brand shattered, the array beneath the altar completely ceased functioning.

The spiritual energy of the entire island no longer converges here.

"Chen'er..."

Luo Qingluan leaned against Jiang Chen's strong chest, her breath barely audible.

"The island lord... he wants to sacrifice... sacrifice all living beings on the entire planet Earth..."

"Paving the way... for his ascension to the immortal realm..."

She hadn't finished speaking.

feet.

From the depths of the earth, a long and ancient sigh echoed.

The entire Tianji Island began to sink violently.

The temple's dome was torn open.

Above the sky, in that scarlet spatial rift.

A pale, emotionless, indescribably huge, empty eyeball.

It slowly emerged.

Its gaze was fixed on the mother and child on the altar.